Report

We travelled to Lobley Hill on Saturday to face Gateshead Rutherford for the first time this season and in the expectation that it would be one of our toughest games yet, and particularly with them sat immediately behind us in the table with a very similar record. And so it proved as both sides went toe-to-toe on a surface that wasn’t the easiest to play football on. Credit therefore goes to both sides for some of the football that was played on and some of the chances that were carved out in what otherwise became a war of attrition. Both sides looked threatening early on with our runners up midfield causing them problems and their pacy front free making life difficult for us, but somehow the game remained 0-0 after half an hour. However, that soon changed when a swift counter from our attack saw the home side create an overload and a dangerous cross was deflected in off Ryan Milburn. Ryan soon made amends though as he nodded in a dangerous Ross Gilchrist corner not less than 5 minutes later and as we continued to miss the gilt-edged chances that we were creating, we were wondering if it was going to be our day. That pattern continued into the second half as more chances for us went begging, and then Zamo, although effectively playing on one leg due to a muscle injury picked up in the warm up, kept us in it with a point blanked save. Eventually however, the pressure we were exerting told and we were able to take advantage of our midfield dominance, and with the winner coming from our U18s, with an excellent right wing cross from Charlie Digby powerfully met on the run and headed home by Harry Jones with ten minutes to go. From there, fresh legs were introduced and we saw out the remaining ten minutes relatively comfortably to hold on for a thoroughly deserved win against a good side who we face again next month.

Russell Ward